Sad Pink Cat to Rad Pink TIGER

I found a sad pink cat at the thrift store a few months ago. Carved wooden animals like this one are an export of Indonesia, often sold as souvenirs or in import stores. This cat was around $2 because it was missing the wings. I saw it on the shelf and immediately had the idea to rescue her and make her some felt wings.

Here she is before the glow up:

I started by giving her a wipe down with soap and water because she was a little grimy from her past life. Then I used black acrylic craft paint to give her stripes. I looked at photos of actual tigers and painted on stripes freehand. I was going to map them out in pencil first, but tigers in the wild aren’t perfect, so this one isn’t either. I also gave her black eyeliner, as tigers seem to have, and I painted on lil toe beans. She might be a tiger now, but she’s still a kitty at heart!

I wanted the wings to be lightly flexible so I used pipe cleaners as a base. The wings are made of stiff felt, held together with hot glue. I didn’t use a pattern, so I guess you could say I WINGED IT. HAH. Honestly, the only way I can describe making them without being too wordy: trial and error.

When I finished the wings, I affixed them to the body. I filled the crevices on her back halfway with hot glue, then folded the rest of the pipe cleaner and jammed it into the hole. Not very scientific, but it has held up really well.

I LOVE making my tiny animals wear flower crowns or wreaths as often as possible. (SeetheseInstagramposts. There are many more, I just stopped looking at four.) This beautiful tiger gets to wear a wreath made from paper and silk flowers in shades of pink and blue. I also made sure to give her a lavender gem as a butthole.

I really want to keep her, but she is listed for sale on my Etsy. I have her hanging on a hook by my fireplace until someone gives her a new home!